Vestibule for street-railway cars.



W. A. HALLER.

VESTIBULE FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1911.

1,692,644.. Patented Apr. 7, 19141 2 SHEET SSHEET 1.

WITNESSES W A. HALLER.

VESTIBULE FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION FILED APILZI, 1911. 1 Q92,'644 Patented Apr. 7, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT ora ion WINFIELD "A. HALLER, or Nnw roan, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF r EMMER r. GWYNN, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

Y'ESTIBULE FOR STREET-RAILWAY CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application flled April 21, 1911. Serial No. 622,504.

Patented Apr. 7, 1911.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD A. HALLER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing a-tNcw York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vestibules for Street-Railway Cars, of

which the following is a specification, refer- 1 therein one passageway for entering passengers and two passageways for dismount ing passengers, the arrangement of passages being such that the in-going and outgoing passengers do not commingle, consequently the car can be expeditiously loaded and unloaded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a car with end com artments and entrances and exits at both sides thereof to facilitate operation in either direction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a car having a central vestibule and side entrances and exits with novel reversible rails adapted to divide the exit passages from the entrance passage in such a manner that passengers can enter and leave either of the end compartments of the car.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in a novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed.

Reference will now be had to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car in accordance-with this invention, Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic horizontal sectional view of the same, Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the vestibule of the car,

and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional v1ew through the vestlbule of the car.

Q In the drawings the reference numeral 1 denotes the body of a steel car supported by standard motor trucks 2. The trucks may be either double trucks, eight wheels; single trucks, four wheels or pedestals with four wheels. The car has the ordinary. equipment, as brakes, fenders, couplers, etc, and the detailed construction of the body forms the subject matter of my companion application.

This invention resides in the central part of the body 1, the body having an ordinary passenger compartment 3 in the forward end thereof and a smoking compartment 1 at the rear end, these compartments being separated by transverse partitions 5 and 6 providing an intermediate or central vestibule 7. The partitions 5 and 6 have doorways 8 with central posts 9 and adapted to close the doorways 8 are slide doors 10 and 11, these doors receding into the partitions 5 and 6 when the doorways 8 are open.

The sills of the car at the sides of the vestibule 7 are lowered and provided with a series of steps 12 leading to the vestibule 7 and these steps can be placed out of use by trap doors 13, which when in a lowered posit-ion are in a horizontal plane with the floor of the vestibule. The trap doors are of the ordinary and well known type used in connection with Pullman cars and when pedestals are used the trap doors are dispensed with.. The side sills of the car support vertical posts 14 and 15 and theqspace between the posts 14 and 15 provides exit openings adapted to be closed by swinging doors 16 and the space between the posts 15, 15 provides an entrance approximately of a width corresponding to the combined width of the exits.

The posts 15, 15 are provided with inwardly projecting railings 17 supported at the side edges of the vestibule 7 by posts 18 and the upper ends of the posts 18 have sockets 19 for the free ends of reversible rails 20, said rails having the inner ends thereof pivotally connected or swiveled upon the posts 9, as at 21, whereby said rails can be swung from the posts 18 atone side of the car to the posts 18 at the opposite side there of. The rails serve functionally as partitions, and as the doors 10 and 11 can be independently operated, it is obvious that passengers can leave either of the compartments 3 or 4 without interferin with passengers entering either of said compartments. The doors 16 being independently operated permits of the entrance remaining closed'while the exits are opened and vice versa.

A car provided with a vestibule in accordance with this invention can be advantageously used upon a one-track suburban system where stations are located upon both sides of the track, it being necessary to use the doorways upon one side of the car and then upon the other.

It is thought the utility of the vestibule will be apparent without further description, and while in the drawings there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements thereof are susceptible to such changes, as in the size, shape and manner of assemblage, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a passenger car and in combination, a vestibule open at both ends, a plurality of door openings at each end of the vestibule, a plurality of steps leading from the bottom of each opening to the floor plane of the car, doors for independently controlling said openings, said doors extending to the lower step, trap doors forming a false floorover the steps, and permanent means for confina vestibule open at both ends, a plurality ofdoor openings at each end of the vestibule, a

plurality of steps leading from the bottom of each opening to the floor plane of the car, doors for independently controlling said openings, said doors extending to the lower step, trap doors forming a false floor over the steps, and permanent railings extending inwardly from the walls of the door openings a distance equal to the step space and adapted to confine the passenger step-space to the respective door openings.

3. In a passenger car and in combination, a vestibule open atboth ends, a plurality of door openings at each end of the vestibule, a plurality of steps leading from the bottom of each opening to the floor plane of the car, doors for independently controlling said openings, said doors extending to the lower step, trap doors forming a false floor over the steps, permanent railings extending inwardly from the walls of the door openings a distance equal to the step space and adapted to confine the passenger step-space to the respective door openings, and shiftable railings adapted to engage the permanent railings on either side of the vestibule at will.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WINFIELD A. HALLER. Witnesses:

C. C. CHArPELLn, W. H. WIEBOLDT. 

